Community Commitment
July 11, 2024
Colorado’s Power Pathway continues to grow as next construction phase begins
Crews begin work on Segment 1 of $1.7B project to strengthen grid, connect with clean energy
Today, Xcel Energy continued to build on its vision for safe, reliable and increasingly clean energy in Colorado with a groundbreaking on Segment 1 of Colorado’s Power Pathway. This phase of construction follows the launch of Segments 2 and 3 in 2023, and will provide high voltage “backbone” transmission, allowing Xcel Energy to connect more than 5,000-megawatts of new renewable energy produced in eastern Colorado, one of the nation’s best areas for wind and solar generation.
During a ceremony at the site of a new transmission substation, located next to the Fort St. Vrain Generating Station in Weld County, executives highlighted the valued partnerships that the Pathway project will create among eastern Colorado communities.
“Our $1.7 billion investment in the Pathway will create construction jobs throughout eastern Colorado and right here in Weld County. It will also provide lease payments to landowners and property taxes associated with the new energy infrastructure will benefit local communities,” said Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy – Colorado. “Once complete, it will drive ongoing job opportunities in the renewable energy projects that ultimately interconnect to the transmission line through our RFP process.”
During a ceremony at the site of a new transmission substation, located next to the Fort St. Vrain Generating Station in Weld County, executives highlighted the valued partnerships that the Pathway project will create among eastern Colorado communities.
“Our $1.7 billion investment in the Pathway will create construction jobs throughout eastern Colorado and right here in Weld County. It will also provide lease payments to landowners and property taxes associated with the new energy infrastructure will benefit local communities,” said Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy – Colorado. “Once complete, it will drive ongoing job opportunities in the renewable energy projects that ultimately interconnect to the transmission line through our RFP process.”
Approved by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in June 2022, Colorado’s Power Pathway is a key enabler of Xcel Energy’s Clean Energy Plan, a proposal that will exceed Colorado’s clean energy targets and reduce carbon emissions from our customers’ electricity by 85% by 2030. Xcel Energy’s Clean Energy Plan includes the early retirement or transition of coal plants and the addition of clean energy resources, including wind, solar and battery storage.
“For the first time in our company’s history, our investment in transmission infrastructure is greater than power plants,” said Sandra Johnson, vice president of Transmission for Xcel Energy, adding the Pathway project is the largest infrastructure project Xcel Energy has undertaken in Colorado. “This is because the transition to new energy sources will not take place without new or improved transmission.”
The Pathway will develop approximately 550 miles of new, 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission infrastructure and will enable connection to some of the most productive renewable energy in the region. Approximately 35 million feet of 345 kV conductor and six million feet of communications fiber optic conductor will span the length of the project, according to Quanta Services, which will manage all construction activities for the Pathway project. Workers will use approximately 165,000 cubic yards of concrete for tower foundations and substations, and 68,000 tons of steel, in the form of transmission towers.
Segment 1 of the Pathway will be built from the new Fort St. Vrain Substation to the Canal Crossing Substation in Morgan County. Construction on Segments 2 and 3 began in 2023 and will be complete in 2025. Work on Segments 1 and 4 will conclude in 2026 and Segment 5 in 2027.